New Nuclear Power and Climate Change: Issues and Opportunities

1. New Nuclear Power and Climate Change: Issues and Opportunities Welcome

2. Upcoming EBC Meetings Nov 6 - Env. Industry Forecast w/ Paul Zofnass Nov 8 - Ira Leighton USEPA Update in RI Nov 14 - EPA VOC Control/Stack Testing Workshop at EPA Lab in Chelmsford Nov 15 - Tour of PSNH Wood Burner Nov 28 - Risk Assessment/Risk Mgmt Program Nov 30 - An Evening with CT DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy Dec 6 – Winter Garden Party in Boston

3. EBC Mission Statement The mission of the Environmental Business Council of New England, Inc. is to advance and promote the environmental and energy services and technology businesses in New England. • Provides programs on current legislative, regulatory, and technology developments that shape the future of the environmental/energy industry • Provides direct access to regulators and industry leaders to discuss developing issues • Offers networking and business development opportunities for its members • Supports and promotes sustainable environmental policies and practices for business and government • Fosters the development of future generations of the industry through academic partnerships and mentoring and training opportunities • Provides access to market research

4. Scale of The Challenge • For 1 GtC reduction in 2050 • 1000 MW electrics with CO2 capture (800) • 1000 MW nuclear stations (700) • 1 MW wind turbines (1 million) • Double fuel economy of cars (2 billion) . . . None economic & accepted today . . . • To achieve any target now discussed • Price (& regulatory) penalty on CO2 emissions • Technology advance to lower the cost of low-CO2 energy supply and use of energy services . . . Only policy involving BOTH will work . . .

5. New Nuclear Power and Climate Change: Issues and Opportunities Kenneth Hughey

6. New Nuclear Power and Climate Change: Issues and Opportunities Jay Scheffer, Conference Chair

7. New Nuclear Power and Climate Change: Issues and Opportunities Keynote Presentation David Ropeik Nuclear Power Public Fears – Perception and Reality

18. Bounded Rationality When we don’t have all the time, all the information, or all the “smarts” we need to make a completely fact-based analytical decision.

19. RISK PERCEPTION FACTORS Psychological factors by which we gauge what to be afraid of and how afraid to be. The characteristics of a risk, apart from the facts.

21. 1. TRUST (More Afraid) • Anything connected with industry • Communications from politicians • A decision making process that’s closed (Less Afraid) • Anything connected with consumer groups • Communications from neutral experts (doctors, academics) • A decision making process that’s open

22. 1. TRUST • In the communicator • In the organization that’s supposed to protect you • In the organization creating the risk • In the process

23. 2. HARM V. BENEFIT • Vaccinations, medical X rays, prescription drugs • Lawn chemicals • Using a mobile phone while you drive

24. 3. CONTROL(ability to influence events as they occur) (More Afraid) • Riding as a passenger in the front seat of a motor vehicle • A process in which you can NOT participate (Less Afraid) • Driving a motor vehicle • A process in which you CAN participate

25. 4. CHOICE(is the risk voluntary or imposed) (More Afraid) • Food with a potentially harmful ingredient NOT listed on the label • The government chooses your town for a nuclear waste repository (Less Afraid) • Food with a harmful ingredient that IS listed on the label • INVITING the government to locate the nuclear waste repository in your town

26. 5. NATURAL V. HUMAN-MADE (More Afraid) • Industrial chemicals (drugs, pesticides) • Technologies (GM food, nuclear power) • Terrorism (Less Afraid) • Organic foods and pesticides • Herbal remedies • Severe weather

27. 6. DREAD (More Afraid) • Anything associated with radiation (cancer) • Pesticides (cancer) • Plane Crash (Less Afraid) • Heart disease (leading cause of death in the U.S.) • Flu • Food poisoning

28. 7. CATASTROPHIC or CHRONIC (More Afraid) • Terrorism • Plane crashes • Nuclear “disaster” (Less Afraid) • Heart disease • Motor vehicle crashes • Air pollution from fossil fuels

29. 8. UNCERTAINTY(When we don’t have all the answers, or we have them but don’t understand them.) (More Afraid) • New technologies • Terrorism • Complex technologies/ (nuclear power, chemicals, GM foods) • Conflicting scientific studies (hormone repl. therapy) (Less Afraid) • Artificial sweeteners, microwave ovens, electrical & magnetic fields, fossil fuels.

30. 9. ME OR THEM • Terrorism to Americans in “The HoMEland” after September 11, 2001 • Radiation from power lines when such a line is installed near your home • HIV/AIDS to those in high risk groups.

31. 10. FAMILIAR V. NEW (More Afraid) • West Nile Virus in year one • Terrorist attacks in America • Avian influenza (H5N1) (Less Afraid) • West Nile Virus in year two, three…. • Terrorist attacks in Israel • “Regular” Influenza

32. 11. CHILDREN • Plastics in children’s toys • Abduction • Pollution problems in schools

33. 12. PERSONIFICATION • Fear of child abduction rises when there is a specific case in the news • Fear of war rises after we see pictures of the dead and injured • Concern about medical errors increases when we learn of a specific victim of a doctor’s mistake

34. 13. AWARENESS (More Afraid) • Terrorism • Avian flu • Nuclear power (Less Afraid) • Heart disease • Influenza • Fossil fuel pollution